Being in Switzerland,one gets to enjoy the fantastic four-i mean the seasons whole heartedly.Every season is wonderful with the bountiful pictureque scenery all around.Guess what, other than making a snowman or enjoying the snowfall(the place where i stay,in Basel one gets to see snowfall quite rarely-so snowfall is also wonderful) in winter i eagerly wait for MARONI-yes i love them totally…..its just super delicious.Right from kids to old people everyone enjoys maroni.

So what is this Maroni:

It is nothing but the chestnut that comes the Sweet chestnut tree.Its called the Spanish chestnut in the U.S.

The Maronistand: Piping hot maroni is sold in the maronistand.Along a stretch of 100m one can find one maronistall in the shopping places and i usually buy them at every other stop.Apart from being sold alone, in many parts of Europe a maronistand also sells roast potato slices(German:Bratkartoffel),potato wedges and potato puffs(German:Kartoffelpuffer).Here in Basel you get only the roasted maroni in the stand and i usually buy 100g for 3CHF.(which is 5 to 6 stops and i end up spending approximately 20CHF a day out).

Health Benefits:unlike other nuts its has quite lower calories,a good source of dietery fibre also an excellent source of folate(folic acid required for formation of RBC`s,DNA synthesis).

Apart from being highly starchy they are also a rich source of mono-unsaturated fatty like oleic acid (18:1) and palmitoleic acids (16:1). Studies suggest that mono unsaturated fats in the diet help lower total as well as LDL (bad cholesterol) and increase HDL (good cholesterol) levels in the blood.

They are rich in a lot of B-comlex group of vitamins and they have a whole lot of other health benefits altogether.

Cook it at home:here is a detail link about cooking maroni-courtesy WIKIHOW www.wikihow.com/Roast-Chestnuts.

As i write this article its Autumn and i can find one or two Maronistands already…….have some shopping to do  today and my first thing on the list,you guessed- its the Maroni!.